A Whole Lot of Cousins!

This past week/weekend was full of cousin craziness! We, (the kids and I) headed to Shreveport to visit with Nana, Gran and Grampaw and cousins Anna Grace and Zeke. They had a grand time swinging in the backyard, riding the carousel, playing in the fountains, taking walks, and playing in the bathtub. Couldn't ask for much more than multiplying the number! So, on Saturday we did just that!

We went to Henderson, TX for the Morris family reunion. This is my Dad's mother's side of the family. She had 9, yes, that's correct, 9 brothers and sisters. So, needless to say there were more cousins there than you could count. Each sibling chose a color and all the descendants of that sibling wore that color. Memaw's was red, of course. It's her favorite color.

As a child, this reunion was typically held at our Dent farm during our 4th of July celebration. There were red, white and blue banners and flags, decorated tractors and wagons, patriotic music blaring and costumes (think Statue of Liberty/Uncle Sam). Although there was none of that this time and we even had to leave early missing the post-lunch festivities, it was good to see everyone I hadn't seen in years and to remember our past generations. To see more check out Candace's blog.

P.S.-Picture posting from May will be completed tonight on our website.

Kinda like the rabbit at the dog races

What a mess!

This afternoon was a challenge as a Mom. It is times like these when you have to realize that you are in control of your own response and stay in control. It all began just after Kendrick was done playing with his Kraft Singles cheese. (That stuff is like glue when it gets mushy.) So, I took him to the sink, stripped him, placed him in the sink and we began the rinsing off ritual. This next part was like slow motion.

Kendrick was wrestling in the sink and he was able to reach my tall, skinny glass jar of liquid dish soap. It hit the island intact and rolled off the other side. It broke in two and dish soap pooled on the floor. I couldn't do anything about it as K was still in the sink. After drying him off and diapering, I placed him in the Entertainer and began the clean-up. After the initial clean-up with an entire roll of dry paper towels, Cavett exclaims he needs to throw-up. (He's running a low fever today of around 100.) So, I run with him to the bathroom. Luckily, he just needed to potty.

I continued cleaning the floor with the second roll of wet paper towels only to find that the rest of the soap that had gone down the drain and was being rinsed down was now bubbling up from the drain on top of the island. To finish it up, Kendrick now had a massive, leaking, green poop diaper. Now I just have the highchair left to clean.

How about you? What's been the worst mess of all to clean up? Now that I have vented, it doesn't seem so bad. But, cleaning up soap is tricky. I guess we already have the Chaney answer!

His first ear infection

Last night I ended up in the guest bedroom "napping" with Kendrick from midnight to morning. Through the night he had fever, highest of which was 104. He was miserable and still feels crummy right now. We ended up heading to the doctor at 10:30 this morning. Her words were "he has a bulging ear infection in his right ear!" We are treating with Amoxicillin and alternating Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours as well as some ear drops. Poor thing, he is just so sad and hot. :(

Catching Up

This past weekend was Memorial Day. We had a very relaxing time with Will, KK, William and Nana. We spent most of the day on Saturday lounging around putting together the new DisneyWorld Monorail that cousin Matthew gave us (WAY COOL!!! Thanks Matthew!) and running a couple of errands. (I thought I might have broken my finger, so we went to the office to X-ray it with Stephen's dental X-ray machine. No broken finger, just swollen and painful.) Nana and I made it to the local quilt store, cut and pieced a quilt together for one of Candace's friends. Sunday was church and then we spent the afternoon in the pool. Unfortunately, both our camera and Nana's camera were having display issues, so not many pictures were taken. But, here are a few. Hope you get a good laugh out of the one Stephen caught of me mid-air!

Monday we went to remedy the situation and bought a new camera. There is a small learning curve in that the memory card is different and I haven't had the time to sit down and figure out how to up load. Hopefully, we will have that figured out by the Morris family reunion this coming weekend.

Keeping up with brother

Kendrick has decided he needs to keep up with his brother. Today he started standing up with out pulling up. He's not even 9 months yet. I'm afraid he'll be walking soon.

Cavett had his first slip and slide experience today. It took some coersion and another kid showing him how it worked, but he warmed up to the idea.

Just leave me alone already.

It never fails. I go to the grocery store with my two precious boys and the clerk or someone else in line asks if I am going to try for a girl. Do I not look like my hands are full enough trying to push a cart with a baby in one arm, a toddler hanging on to the side and trying to put groceries in my cart?????? This question has almost become more obnoxious and more frequent than when we were just married with no kids for 4 years. Why can't I just enjoy the two wonderful boys I have? Is there something wrong with that? Why does everyone think you have to have both sexes? Sure, it might be nice and there are times I wonder if I would like to have a girl. But, let me enjoy the baby I have right now. As Marion stated, I don't want to move on to the "next thing" yet.

Just to make sure everyone knows and you won't have to ask me again for a really long time, here is the answer. I have given off the flippant, "Girls scare me," just to end conversations. Well, ok, they do scare me at age 12-30. Come on, I taught middle school. I know, I know, "but I am the parent and will raise them right." The whole princess idea that everyone is into just repluses me. We are going to have a whole generation of girls who want everything and to be waited on hand and foot! Look at all these "spas" for little girls. What are we telling them? That they have to be beautiful to feel loved? It's just wrong. Does anyone else see this or am I jaded? I'm just not as girly as you think I may be. I digress............

If it were up to Stephen we would be done. I am not sure I am finished at this moment. Like Stephen says, one-on-one defense is better than zone. We would also like to extensively travel with them when they are old enough to appreciate it. It would be much more difficult to do that with 3 or more. Also, we are unsure where we will even be living in a year. However, I don't want to look back and say I wish we had one more, even if it is a boy. I don't want to feel like family holidays are incomplete.

Most of all, I am not sure I want to go through the pain of another miscarriage. One of my dear friends is going through this for a second time right now and it is absolutely heart-wrenching. I know all the feelings and pain she is experiencing. It's not fun. I am also getting older and there are more risks the more we wait. But, this is not the right time. If that time ever comes, I'll let you know. For now, I think I will just enjoy what God has given me.

So, just leave me alone already.

Vitamins

Cavett has been taking vitamins since his last visit to the doctor in January. He is taking the "My First" Flintstone vitamins--the precursor to the same vitamin I took as a kid. He loves talking about who he is eating each day--Pebbles, Bam-Bam, Fred or Dino the Dinosaur. It occured to the the other day, he really has no idea who these characters are. You can't find the old 60's cartoons on any more. Every now and then I see Tom & Jerry, but that's it. So, we YouTubed it today. I enjoyed it, but Cavett wasn't terribly interested. Maybe he's just too young, or maybe I am just too nostalgic.

One more "note"

I feel very honored to be included in this little group, Cantare. My voice is not as trained, my mind not as keen, my ear not as astute as my colleagues in Cantare. But, they bring me to another level and challenge me to become better. Kevin Riehle, our director is also an inspiration. His love of music and passion for heart-felt quality is priceless.

During this weekend's concerts I have "gated." This is a term we use in SongPlay when one feels they have had another's experience. I have felt like I was conducting too. It's been 5 years since I have conducted such a group (my masters recital), but he made me remember the joy and sheer fun of it. It is so nice to watch a conductor who truly cares about his singers and players so and really expresses both with hands and face what he wants from the music.

I am so blessed to be a part of this community of music making and life changing. Thanks, Kevin for giving me this chance.

Approval

The past two weeks have been busy every night. If not for rehearsals, there was a VBS meeting or a "mandatory girls" night. I have missed putting my children to bed and sitting on the couch folding clothes with my dear husband. However, I have been pondering life as I drive into town by myself each night. I have come to realize that singing with Cantare is something I need to do for myself and God. And, it is a good thing. The sermon today summed up all my thoughts of the week and help solidify my answer.

All my life I have been singing or playing in concerts and always wanted someone there to hear and see me. I was searching for approval, wanting someone to love me and what I did. As I have gotten older, I didn't need anyone in the audience. It was just fun to sing. Don't get me wrong, I love it even more when I know someone in the audience. But, now that I have children, I realize it is not about me, but about who I am and what I can do to serve God. When we try to seek others approval we will always fall short. Ultimately, it's not what others think of me, it is what God thinks of me and his approval. Luckily, He is unconditional in His love, because otherwise we would never measure up. In Christ, God has approved us.

As I prepare for my concert this afternoon, I am grateful that my Uncle Karl will be there, even if it was not to see me (one of his students is the tenor soloist). I am very glad that I will still get to visit with him. It's sort of like having my Dad there. But, I am singing for the glory of God. Even if it is about a Jewish battle 166 years before Jesus, there are parallels to His coming and conquering the foe! My witness is through singing.

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by trusting the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Aside-Last night's concert of Handel's work went very well considering the amount of music and the very little time we had with orchestra and soloists. It was just extremely long. 3 hours! What was Handel thinking!?!?!?! I guess they had very little other forms of entertainment in the day. It clips along and you never really feel like one piece was too long, but good grief, there are 64 of them!!!!!!

A Downtown Destination

A fun thing to do with kids in Houston is go to the Aquarium for dinner. Granted it is a little over priced and it is VERY commercialized, they still like looking at the fish. We went for an early dinner in between my rehearsal and concert at Zilkha Hall last night. Besides the Aquarium, they have a "zoo" of sorts with snakes, sharks, tigers, etc, as well as amusement rides. You can get an all day pass to do everything for about $15, but we were only there long enough to ride a couple of rides. Cavett finally got to take a ride on a ferris wheel. We had tried to at the rodeo earlier this year, but it was too windy. Luckily, he isn't old enough to realize all the other "attractions" they have or to "want" all the other junk they sell.

Zero Points

As I was having my 0 point snack this afternoon, Kendrick decided he liked it too. Yes, he is eating a pickle!

What's Kendrick been up to?

Everything!!! He is bear crawling everywhere (probably due to the tile floor) and every now and then he will stand alone for a few seconds. He has just started doing the milk sign. I am not sure he really understands when to do it, but he realizes he controls his hands now. He is also eating more solid foods and is making a royal, but fun mess.

A Science Experiment

This morning while Kendrick was napping, Cavett and I decided to do a few science experiments. First we filled 3 glasses with water and then added a couple of drops of food coloring to each glass making each one a different color. Then we went throught the whole scientific process of hypothesis and trial and error to see what would happen when we added a different color to each glass. We eventually came up with 3 different colors in the glasses. We did it again and again. He loved it!

Afterwards, we made homemade Rice Crispy Treats for the first time. It was really fun to watch what happened to the marshmallows in the microwave and then to hear the rice crispies say, "Snap, Crackle, Pop!" when the marshmallow mixture was added.

Cavett is very good with following directions and instructions and loves to "pretend" to read them. Just yesterday at the grocery store, he was reading the ingredients and instructions on the side of the Mac and Cheese box. Granted, they are pretty much picture instructions, but he even knew to boil the water. Smart kid, he is.

Family Portraits

As you may have know we took family portraits a week ago. We finally got to see them today. I am quite pleased they turned out so well.

Here's the link. Photography by Mary. If you want to see them, email me and I'll send you the password. I don't want the entire world to have access to our account.

Protected

Thursday we headed out to get the mail. It took us 15 minutes to get ready. Here's why....

He insisted. I guess I can't complain too much.

A Mother's Day Picnic

Today was the Mother's Day Picnic at Cavett's school. I hurriedly dropped off Kendrick in the nursery and ran with my blanket and lunch to meet Cavett in the gym. When I arrived the floor was full of mommies and blankets. I found a spot and made the spread. Unfortunately, in the hurry, I left the camera in the diaper bag with Kendrick. So, we had to capture the moment afterwards, but I think I might have even gotten a better take.

They paraded the kids in straight lines at the front of the gym. Each kid was looking for their Mom, Cavett included. Of course, I was on the wrong side. He was desperately looking for me once he realized what was going on and his teacher helped to find me. I blew him a kiss and he blew one back to me. They sang several songs with their music teacher--two of which are featured below. After each one, he looked to me for approval. I cheered for him and blew him more kisses.

He presented me with a "hand" made corsage as seen above and a basket. We then had a sandwich lunch and tickled each other after each bite. (He ate the whole sandwich and it was most fun!) Cavett had made cookies at school for our dessert. The sad thing that I noticed about other Moms was that it was a visiting session for them with their friends. For them, it wasn't about their child. For instance, one kid in Cavett's class wandered over to our blanket and just stared for a while, while his Mom chatted it up and didn't even notice her son was gone. My heart broke for him. This is not a new phenomenon to me either though. I see it happen in my SongPlay class. I try to explain, but some just don't get it. Pay attention to your child!!!! They desperately seek your approval and attention. I know you can't be there at every moment. But, be present when you can be there. I digress, sorry. I'm stepping off my soap box now.....

After we got home and got Kendrick fed, I put Cavett to bed. We talked about our lunch and how special it was. I told him, "Thank you for making me a Mommy, Cavett." His response was, "Awwwww" and he gave me a big hug. He's a sweet kid.

Happy Early Mother's Day to all the Mothers and Mother's-to-Be in my life!

P.S.-Pictures are updated on our website.

Add 'em up

Yesterday was Teacher Appreciation Day at Cavett's school. So, before school we went to the grocery store to pick up some flowers. On our way there we were talking about all his different teachers we needed to buy a flower for-Ms. Jan, Ms. Carol, Ms. Carlino, Ms. Frye, Ms. Beth and Ms. Becky. I held up a finger for each teacher. Immediately, Cavett said "5 and 1." I rephrased and said "5 plus 1, makes...." He counted and said 6. He really likes this game. Adding is pretty easy for him. And he can do numbers other than just adding 1. Subtracting, other than our "eating story" (There once was a boy named Cavett and he had 3 bites of food. He ate one and then he had 2 left) is more difficult. It will come, but I'm so glad that he finds learning "fun."

P.S.-Thanks Uncle Tim for the shirt!!! Way cool!

Going to the Theatre

This morning the family went to the theatre. It was Cavett's first real experience besides a movie. His teacher, Ms. Jan, told us about the Company On Stage and that her daughter was the lead in "Puss in Boots". It sounded right up our alley! The theater was very small and intimate--just right for kids. The time was perfect and Cavett had read the story several times before. Cavett was fairly attentive, but kept asking when he would see the ogre. Unfortunately, I assume for the fear factor, the ogre was heard and not seen until he turned into a mouse. Kendrick also enjoyed it. He actually watched most of it, even when given the opportunity to nurse he wanted to watch instead. Afterward, Cavett got the autograph of every single cast member. He was mesmerized! The next show they have will be Sleeping Beauty. I imagine this will be a theatre we will frequent often.

On a side note, Kendrick is loving teething biscuits now. They are really pretty gross to me and make a HUGE mess, but sometimes it's worth if you need a bit of time. This morning he was so messy, he hardly looked like himself. This is a picture when he didn't realize he had placed the biscuit on his head and then kept looking for it. Pretty funny!

Walker, Texas Ranger

Ha! I really got some of you with that title! (No, Anna's baby still hasn't arrived yet). I did however just find a Hollywood actor ready to take on Oprah and her "book club." Granted, he isn't terribly popular right now, but who says being popular means you are right? Check out http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57827.